Memories of the Dying
by White-Tigers-of-Darkness
Summary: 6 billion years in the future, The Face of Boe remembers his promise to a long dead love and explains to the Doctor why he couldn't forget. Spoilers for CoE 'Day 4'


SPOILER ALERT FOR CHILDREN OF EARTH.

This story is my good bye to Ianto (Not that I will ever stop writing him.) It basically came into existence because the tv station showing Torchwood in Australia has been showing Doctor Who eps just before Torchwood and due to some interesting planning, they showed 'Gridlock' just before they showed 'Day 4'

Basically, it's the Face of Boe telling the Doctor about his promise to Ianto and the events of that day.

Just quickly, I am a little unsure of some of the dialogue (Despite forcing myself to sit through 'that' scene twice) So I apologise in advance if it is a little off. Plus, this was written in the space of an hour after having just finished watching 'Day 5' so the spelling might be off.

Now reposted to fix a mistake regarding Iantos age.

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Not for the first time, but for the last time, Boe felt the empty black of deaths pull. And for the first time, he wasn't afraid.

In the distance, he could hear the chatter as the ever loyal Hame worked alongside his oldest friend, to save the people of New New York. They didn't need him. Not yet. He would save his strength, for his final moments.

Sinking back into the vast depths of his mind, Boe thought back, to all those he had saved, and all those he couldn't. So many nameless faces on so many different worlds. He had helped and he had hindered. He had been a hero and a villain. Loved and hated. And now was his last chance. The last time he would ever get to save the world and deliver his final message.

"Doctor" he thought, sending the message across the room to the Timelord.

"Not now!" the Doctor snapped, trying to find the power needed to save his friend.

"I give you my last" Boa continued.

Concentrating, he pushed his life force into the machines, forcing the energy to the Doctor's advantage, as the motorway opened. The screen, keeping him safely connected shattered, the glass no longer supporting his prone body.

Slipping back into the safety of his own mind, Boe watched with faint interest as the Doctor broadcast the instructions to a waiting public.

"Drive up. All of you. Drive up."

Boe smiled.

'I did good' He thought to himself, the words echoed with a faint welsh accent. An accent he loved.

Slowly, he blinked. There was something else before he died. Something he needed to remember. A promise he had made to someone, somewhere.

Looking up, Boe watched as the Doctor approached his body. A shadow passed over the Timelord, darkening him. For a moment, Boe felt displaced, as the image before him changed. The man standing before him wasn't the Doctor. Another man stood in his place. Darker hair covered a rounder face, the famous brown suit replace with a black one. The Doctor's brown eyes replaced with vivid blue ones. The words appeared from the depths of his mind, filled with sadness and pain.

"_You won't forget me?"_

The words hit his mind like a weight smashing through the barriers he had long since built to protect himself from the outside world, allowing the memories to flow through his head. Boe felt his mouth burn. He had forgotten, broken his promise.

Boe didn't remember closing his eyes. Slowly, he forced them open, blinking in the suddenly harsh light of his betrayal. The Doctor was kneeling at his side now, a look of concern on his face.

"Is there anything I can do?" The Timelord asked.

Boe concentrated on the words he needed to express. He had little time left, and he needed to speak his mind before his final message could be revealed.

"There is no pain in my body which you have the ability to heal old friend. Only a pain in my head." Boe shuddered, trying to form the words. "I have betrayed someone. Someone I cared about more than life or death."

Blocking his thoughts from the Doctor, Boe continued.

'I promised not to forget you. But I did. Please forgive me Ianto.'

Opening his mind once again, Boe reached out to the Doctor. "Please. Let me tell you about him"

The Doctor didn't speak but nodded.

Boe paused for a moment before allowing himself to begin his story.

"Many years ago, I discovered love in the most unlikely places. I looked different then. Younger and in possession of a fairly attractive humanoid body." Boe gave the Timelord a faint smile, remembering his own vanity.

"I worked with a secret organisation whose only duty was to keep mankind safe. We sacrificed everything, even our lives, to preserve the human race. That's where I met him. He was an agent from another branch of the organisation which had recently been destroyed by outside forces."

Boe carefully avoided speaking with too much detail. If he was correct, the Doctor had only just arrived from the Battle of Canary Warf and the loss of Rose.

"He was amazing. I suppose that was what caught my interest. Smart, brave and loyal, he was all three. I trusted him completely, even when I had no reason to. After a few false starts, I managed to get him into my team and then, finally into a relationship."

Boe paused, a feeling of pleasure as he remembered those days long ago, when he roamed about the country fighting evil, his team and his lover by his side. Slowly, those memories twisted themselves into something deeper, something darker.

"But it ended, as all things must, with death."

The Doctor sat quietly; his shoulders slumped, listening to Boe's grief.

"We had already lost so many to death but love really is blind. I never, for a single moment, thought I would lose him. But then it happened. We were attacked on two fronts. On one side was our own government. They ordered the destruction of my whole team. As we fought to survive, another threat appeared. A group of aliens, known only as the 456, threatening to abduct innocent children for their own twisted pleasures. We had to stop them. We managed to avoid the government agents searching for us, so I decided to split my team up. I left one of my agents; a young woman called Gwen at our makeshift base and took him with me to talk to the new threat. We thought we could stop them. We were wrong"

Boe paused again. The memories threatening to break his self control.

"The aliens trapped us together before releasing a toxic gas. We both knew that, although I would feel the effects of the toxin, I would survive, but he couldn't. I tried to get him out but in the end I was forced to watch as the toxin slowly destroyed him. He died in my arms."

For the first time in many years, a tear escaped from Boe's eyes. He looked up at the Doctor. The Timelord gently rested his hand on Boes chin as the aged being remembered.

"_I love you"_

"_Don't"_

"_You won't forget me?"_

"_Never"_

"_But in a thousand years time, you won't remember me"_

"I never even told him I loved him. And I broke my promise. I promised I wouldn't forget him. But I did. I loved him and I forgot him."

Boe mentally sighed, trying to return to the most important part of his story.

"His name was Ianto Jones, and he was 25 years old when he died. "

Glancing over at the Doctor, Boe was surprised to see a single tear on the mighty Timelords cheek. Sighing again, Boe closed his eyes.

"_Jack"_ a long dead voice whispered. "_It's almost time."_

Boe tried to follow the voice. "_Ianto?" _he asked the darkness.

His question was met with silence but, for the first time in a long time, Boe felt pleasure, like something was lifted from inside him. He felt like he was floating. Soon it would all be over. He was going home. He smiled at the Doctor.

"Do not pity me old friend. I remember now. Soon, I will be leaving. I do not know where I will go, but I know he will be waiting for me."

Reaching out with his remaining energy, he mentally felt his surroundings. A mind was moving closer, a mind he knew well. Martha Jones. Soon she would arrive. Soon Boe would speak his final truth to the lonely god. Soon, he would go home to his team. To Owen and Tosh, Rhys and Gwen and their baby. To Alice and Steven and most importantly of all, to Ianto.

Home.

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R.I.P Ianto Jones. You will be greatly missed.


End file.
